Automatic web browsing in electronic messaging interface method and apparatus

ABSTRACT

Disclosed are systems and methods for improving interactions with and between computers in content generating, searching, hosting and/or providing systems supported by or configured with personal computing devices, servers and/or platforms. The systems interact to identify and retrieve data within or across platforms, which can be used to improve the quality of data used in processing interactions between or among processors in such systems. The disclosed systems and methods provide systems and methods for automatically allowing web browsing in a user interface of an electronic messaging system. The disclosed systems and methods automatically display electronic messages containing item information displayed in an electronic message in place of any web page links associated with the item enabling browsing of the item information from within the electronic messaging system&#39;s user interface.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of and claims priority fromco-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 17/716,896, filed Apr. 8,2022, entitled AUTOMATIC WEB BROWSING IN ELECTRONIC MESSAGING INTERFACEMETHOD AND APPARATUS, which is a continuation of and claims priorityfrom co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/531,371, now U.S.Pat. No. 11,301,923, filed Aug. 5, 2019, entitled AUTOMATIC WEB BROWSINGIN ELECTRONIC MESSAGING INTERFACE METHOD AND APPARATUS, the contents ofwhich are hereby incorporated by reference.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

The present disclosure relates to improvements to electronic messagingsystems and specifically to providing a capability to browse web-linkedinformation using an electronic messaging system's user interface.

BACKGROUND

Currently, an electronic messaging system provides a capability forviewing electronic messages using the electronic messaging system's userinterface (e.g., a user interface of the electronic messaging systemdisplayed using a client application, such as and without limitation anelectronic messaging client application, a browser application, etc.).An electronic message viewed using the system's user interface maycontain a third-party link (e.g., a link to a web page of an entity, orother provider), which when activated by the electronic messaging systemuser causes the user to be transferred from the electronic messagingsystem and its user interface to a web page of the third party. Thisapproach causes the electronic messaging system to lose control of itsuser, when the user is diverted to the third party's web page upon theselection by the user of the third-party link in the electronic messagebeing viewed by the user using the electronic messaging system.

SUMMARY

The present disclosure provides novel systems and methods for automaticweb browsing in an electronic messaging system user interface.Electronic messages are an efficient mechanism for online providers tocommunicate with online users.

An electronic messaging system typically receives an electronic messagefrom an online provider as the sender (of the electronic message) andforwards the electronic message to a recipient (e.g., a user of theelectronic messaging system). The electronic messaging system provides,via a user interface, a number of electronic messaging tools for use bythe user in viewing and handling electronic messages.

The electronic messaging system is accessible via a number of differentways. For example, the electronic messaging system can be accessed via aclient application executing on a user device, such as and withoutlimitation a smartphone, tablet, laptop, desktop, or other computingdevice. As yet another example, the electronic messaging system can beaccessed via the web. To access electronic messaging system via the web,the user typically navigates to a web address of the electronicmessaging system using a web browser. The electronic messaging systemtypically has at least one computing device (e.g., a server computingdevice) to respond to the user of the client application and/or theuser.

The electronic messaging system user (the recipient of the electronicmessage) uses the electronic messaging system's tools to open and viewan electronic message. An online provider typically includes one or morelinks to its web site in an electronic message in order to attract theelectronic messaging system user to the online provider's web site. In aconventional approach, the electronic messaging system displays thelink(s) when the electronic message is displayed, and when theelectronic messaging system user clicks on a link displayed in themessage, the user is transferred from the electronic messaging system tothe online providers web site (e.g., a web page of the online provideridentified in the link displayed in the electronic message is opened bya browser application).

Consequently and in such a conventional approach, when the user clickson the link and is transferred to the online provider's web page, theelectronic messaging system loses control of the user, when theelectronic messaging system user is transferred from the electronicmessaging system (and the displayed electronic message) to the linkedweb page (e.g., a display of the linked web page in a browserapplication). An online merchant is one example of an online providerthat typically sends a number of electronic messages each of whichcontains a number of links, and selection of any such link results inthe electronic message user being transferred to the online merchant'swebsite and away from the conventional electronic messaging systemcausing the conventional electronic messaging system to lose control ofthe user. Once the conventional electronic messaging system lossescontrol of the user, it cannot control the user's online interaction andexperience. In addition and once the user clicks on an embedded link,the user is transferred from the electronic messaging system (and itsuser interface familiar to the user) to an unfamiliar, inconsistent userinterface provided by the online provider.

Embodiments of the present disclosure improve over the conventionalelectronic messaging system's approach and provide an improvedelectronic messaging system that automatically displays an onlineprovider's linked information in the electronic messaging system's userinterface. The linked information is displayed in place of the onlineprovider's web page links. In so doing, the electronic messaging systemretains control of the user while allowing the user to browse theinformation of the online provider from within a familiar, consistentuser interface provided by the electronic messaging system. With theelectronic messaging system provided in accordance with at least oneembodiment of the present disclosure, the user of the electronicmessaging system can peruse information and/or items (e.g., itemsoffered by an online merchant) using the electronic messaging system'suser interface consistent and familiar to the user of the electronicmessaging system.

In accordance with at least one embodiment, the improved electronicmessaging system comprises a mechanism for maintaining a digital storeof items selected by the user from one or more electronic messages sentby one or more online providers and displayed by the electronicmessaging system. By way of some non-limiting examples, an item can be aproduct, good, service, etc. The digital store of user-selected itemscan be represented in the electronic messaging system's user interfaceas a user interface element (e.g., a shopping cart user interfaceelement).

In accordance with at least one embodiment, the electronic messagingsystem provides an ability to process requests (e.g., order, add,delete, update) by the user in connection with items in the digital itemstorage of user-selected items. In accordance with at least oneembodiment, the disclosed systems and methods can maintain a digitalitem storage for user-selected items associated with a single onlineprovider or for user-selected items associated with more than one onlineprovider. In accordance with at least one embodiment, the digital storeof user-selected items can store items associated with different onlineproviders, so that the digital store of user-selected items can compriseitems from different online providers at any time. Alternatively, thediscloses systems and methods can maintain multiple digital stores ofuser-selected items (e.g., a different digital store for each onlineprovider) for a user. In any case, the disclosed systems and methods canmaintain a digital store of user-selected items selected by a user fromdifferent electronic messages (of one or more online providers).

According to some embodiments, the disclosed systems and methods firstreceives a request to display an electronic message including a numberof items of an online provider. For example, a user of the electronicmessaging system's user interface can select the electronic message(e.g., from a listing of electronic messages) with a command to open theelectronic message. The electronic message that is displayed in responseto the request excludes any web page links (or other web links) to theonline provider's web site. That is, the electronic message, which isreceived from a sender (e.g., an online merchant), can include links,each of which corresponds to an item (e.g., an item available from theonline merchant). In a case that the electronic message contains a link(or links), the link references a web page (e.g., a web page provided bythe sender) containing information about the corresponding item.

In accordance with one or more embodiments, in the case that theelectronic message contains one or more links (e.g., each link cancorrespond to an item, or a linked item, associated with the sender ofthe electronic message), each link contained in the electronic messageis replaced with a short description of the linked item prior to thedisplay of the contents of the electronic message. Consequently, unlikethe conventional approach of displaying a sender's link (e.g., to a webpage corresponding to the linked item), the disclosed systems andmethods display an electronic message without the link —informationabout the linked item is displayed in place of the link.

In accordance with one or more embodiments, the electronic message fromthe sender can be received with a short description of each item ratherthan a link for each item. The disclosed systems and methods make adetermination whether or not the user-selected electronic messagecontains links or short descriptions. In the case that the electronicmessage contains item links, the disclosed systems and methods replaceeach link with an item description.

In accordance with one or more embodiments, in a case that a linked itemis available for order, the electronic message that is displayedincludes an “Add” button to add the item to a digital store of itemsselected by the user and maintained by the electronic messaging system.In addition to an ability to add an item to the digital store ofuser-selected items, the disclosed systems and methods provides toolsfor use in the electronic messaging system to edit the digital store ofuser-selected items (e.g., delete an item from the digital store ofuser-selected items, change the quantity of an item included in thedigital store, etc.) and to submit an order request, from within theelectronic messaging system (and its user interface) to order theitem(s) in the digital store of the user-selected items from the onlineprovider(s) associated with each item in the digital store.

In accordance with one or more embodiments, the digital store ofuser-selected items can comprise, for each item in the digital store,item identification information (e.g., item name, part number, modelnumber, stock keeping unit (SKU), universal product code (UPC),International Standard Book Number (ISBN), online provider's unique itemidentification code), online provider identification information (e.g.,online provider's name, universal resource locator (URL), etc.) anduser-specified information such as and without limitation quantity,size, color, etc.

In accordance with one or more embodiments, in response to an orderrequest received from the user interface of the electronic messagingsystem and by a user of the electronic messaging system, the disclosedsystems and methods process the request with respect to each item in thedigital store of user-selected items (e.g., the digital store ofuser-selected items associated with the order request and maintained bythe electronic messaging system) by coordinating with each onlineprovider having an item in the digital store of user-selected items. Ina case that the digital store of the user's selected items includesitems from a number of online providers, the disclosed systems andmethods coordinate the user's request with each online provider.

In accordance with one or more embodiments, the disclosed systems andmethods comprise an online wallet mechanism to store and manage a user'sinformation, including without limitation logins to online providers,passwords, shipping address, billing address and credit card details.The online wallet mechanism provides tools to add, delete, update, etc.user information in a digital store.

In accordance with one or more embodiments, the online wallet mechanismis used to coordinate the user's order request. In accordance with oneor more embodiments, the electronic messaging system submits an order toan online provider (e.g., an online merchant), including identifyingeach item in the digital store of user-selected items associated withthe online provider.

In accordance with at least one embodiment, an order can be submitted toan online provider using the merchant's Application ProgrammingInterface (API). For example, the online provider's API can be used toact on the user's behalf and submit the order to the online provider.Examples of information provided to the online provider include withoutlimitation the user's information (e.g., some or all of login name andpassword, name, billing address, shipping address, credit cardinformation, etc.) and item information (item identificationinformation, quantity, size, color, etc.). Information received from theonline provider regarding the order, such as confirmation of the order,shipping, delivery, etc. is provided to the user via the electronicmessaging system's user interface. Other options for handling the user'sorder request include without limitation use of OBI (Open Buying on theInternet) and Epay. OBI provides a standardized approach forbusiness-to-business purchasing on the web. OBI allows orders to besecurely placed and payment made. Epay provides a mechanism forprocessing payment.

It will be recognized from the disclosure herein that embodiments of theinstant disclosure provide improvements to a number of technology areas,for example those related to systems and processes that handle orprocess electronic messages, electronic commerce systems and processesand the like. The disclosed systems and methods can effectuate anelectronic messaging system's control of its users, effectuate afamiliar, consistent user interface across online providers (e.g., thesenders of electronic messages), effectuate increased speed andefficiency in the ways that users can use the electronic messagingsystem to access linked information using a consistent user interfaceacross the online providers without leaving the electronic messagingsystem's environment (including its application features and userinterface), and minimize user effort, as the disclosed systems andmethods, inter alia, eliminate the need for the user to transfer fromthe electronic messaging system, provide a consistent user interface,for the user, across online providers sending electronic message to theuser of the electronic messaging system and keep the user in theelectronic messaging system's environment.

Users are provided with a fully automated experience through thedisclosed systems' and methods' use of a consistent user interfaceacross online providers (e.g., the senders of the electronic messages toelectronic system users) for displaying linked information rather thantransferring the user to a browser upon user selection of a web link.For example, the disclosed systems and methods use its consistent userinterface for all online providers to display item information ratherthan web links (displayed by a conventional electronic messagingsystem), so that the user can view the item information using theelectronic message system, and its consistent user interface, withoutthe need to select a link embedded in an electronic message and leavethe electronic messaging system. In addition, the disclosed systems andmethods can process item selections retained in a digital store ofuser-selected items by the electronic messaging system for the user andto submit an order for the user-selected items in the digital store, sothat the user need not leave the electronic messaging system, ornavigate to an online provider's web site, to view and order items fromonline providers.

In accordance with one or more embodiments, a method is disclosed whichincludes receiving, at a computing device, a request from a user fordisplay of an electronic message, from an online provider and directedto the user of the electronic messaging system, in a user interface ofan electronic messaging system. In response to the user request for theelectronic message's display, the electronic message is retrieved, viathe computing device and from a digital store of the electronicmessaging system. The retrieval of the electronic message comprisingensuring that any web page link, of the online provider, associated withany item, of the online provider referenced in the electronic message,is excluded from the electronic message, the ensuring comprisingensuring that information about an item, of the online provider, iscontained in the electronic message rather than an associated web pagelink, of the online provider, for the item.

The electronic message, with the information about each item rather thanthe web page link associated with the item, is displayed in theelectronic messaging system's user interface, via the computing deviceand in response to the display request of the user. Item selectioninput, of the user, is received, via the computing device and in theelectronic messaging system's user interface, the received itemselection input indicating a selection of an item from the display ofthe electronic message. Information about the selected item is stored,via the computing device and in the digital store of the electronicmessaging system.

In response to the user selection input, a user interface elementrepresenting a digital store of user-selected items is displayed in theelectronic messaging system's user interface, via the computing device,the user interface element comprising an indicator that the selecteditem is stored in the digital store of user-selected items. A request ofthe user regarding the item included in the digital store ofuser-selected items is received, via the computing device and the userinterface element displayed in the electronic messaging system's userinterface. At least one operation is performed, via the computing deviceand using the electronic messaging system, in response to the request,of the user, regarding the item included in the digital store ofuser-selected items.

In accordance with one or more embodiments, a non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium is provided, the non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium tangibly storing thereon, or havingtangibly encoded thereon, computer readable instructions that whenexecuted cause at least one processor to perform a method for automaticweb browsing in an electronic messaging system user interface.

In accordance with one or more embodiments, a system is provided thatcomprises one or more computing devices configured to providefunctionality in accordance with such embodiments. In accordance withone or more embodiments, functionality is embodied in steps of a methodperformed by at least one computing device. In accordance with one ormore embodiments, program code (or program logic) executed by aprocessor(s) of a computing device to implement functionality inaccordance with one or more such embodiments is embodied in, by and/oron a non-transitory computer-readable medium.

DRAWINGS

The above-mentioned features and objects of the present disclosure willbecome more apparent with reference to the following description takenin conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein like referencenumerals denote like elements and in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a networkwithin which the systems and methods disclosed herein could beimplemented according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 depicts is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of clientdevice in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3 is a schematic block diagram illustrating components of anexemplary system in accordance with embodiments of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating steps performed in accordance withsome embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 5-9 are diagrams of an exemplary example of a non-limitingembodiment in accordance with some embodiments of the presentdisclosure; and

FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating the architecture of an exemplaryhardware device in accordance with one or more embodiments of thepresent disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Subject matter will now be described more fully hereinafter withreference to the accompanying drawings, which form a part hereof, andwhich show, by way of illustration, specific example embodiments.Subject matter may, however, be embodied in a variety of different formsand, therefore, covered or claimed subject matter is intended to beconstrued as not being limited to any example embodiments set forthherein; example embodiments are provided merely to be illustrative.Likewise, a reasonably broad scope for claimed or covered subject matteris intended. Among other things, for example, subject matter may beembodied as methods, devices, components, or systems. Accordingly,embodiments may, for example, take the form of hardware, software,firmware or any combination thereof (other than software per se). Thefollowing detailed description is, therefore, not intended to be takenin a limiting sense.

Throughout the specification and claims, terms may have nuanced meaningssuggested or implied in context beyond an explicitly stated meaning.Likewise, the phrase “in one embodiment” as used herein does notnecessarily refer to the same embodiment and the phrase “in anotherembodiment” as used herein does not necessarily refer to a differentembodiment. It is intended, for example, that claimed subject matterinclude combinations of example embodiments in whole or in part.

In general, terminology may be understood at least in part from usage incontext. For example, terms, such as “and”, “or”, or “and/or,” as usedherein may include a variety of meanings that may depend at least inpart upon the context in which such terms are used. Typically, “or” ifused to associate a list, such as A, B or C, is intended to mean A, B,and C, here used in the inclusive sense, as well as A, B or C, here usedin the exclusive sense. In addition, the term “one or more” as usedherein, depending at least in part upon context, may be used to describeany feature, structure, or characteristic in a singular sense or may beused to describe combinations of features, structures or characteristicsin a plural sense. Similarly, terms, such as “a,” “an,” or “the,” again,may be understood to convey a singular usage or to convey a pluralusage, depending at least in part upon context. In addition, the term“based on” may be understood as not necessarily intended to convey anexclusive set of factors and may, instead, allow for existence ofadditional factors not necessarily expressly described, again, dependingat least in part on context.

The present disclosure is described below with reference to blockdiagrams and operational illustrations of methods and devices. It isunderstood that each block of the block diagrams or operationalillustrations, and combinations of blocks in the block diagrams oroperational illustrations, can be implemented by means of analog ordigital hardware and computer program instructions. These computerprogram instructions can be provided to a processor of a general purposecomputer to alter its function as detailed herein, a special purposecomputer, ASIC, or other programmable data processing apparatus, suchthat the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computeror other programmable data processing apparatus, implement thefunctions/acts specified in the block diagrams or operational block orblocks. In some alternate implementations, the functions/acts noted inthe blocks can occur out of the order noted in the operationalillustrations. For example, two blocks shown in succession can in factbe executed substantially concurrently or the blocks can sometimes beexecuted in the reverse order, depending upon the functionality/actsinvolved.

These computer program instructions can be provided to a processor of: ageneral purpose computer to alter its function to a special purpose; aspecial purpose computer; ASIC; or other programmable digital dataprocessing apparatus, such that the instructions, which execute via theprocessor of the computer or other programmable data processingapparatus, implement the functions/acts specified in the block diagramsor operational block or blocks, thereby transforming their functionalityin accordance with embodiments herein.

For the purposes of this disclosure a computer readable medium (orcomputer-readable storage medium/media) stores computer data, which datacan include computer program code (or computer-executable instructions)that is executable by a computer, in machine readable form. By way ofexample, and not limitation, a computer readable medium may comprisecomputer readable storage media, for tangible or fixed storage of data,or communication media for transient interpretation of code-containingsignals. Computer readable storage media, as used herein, refers tophysical or tangible storage (as opposed to signals) and includeswithout limitation volatile and non-volatile, removable andnon-removable media implemented in any method or technology for thetangible storage of information such as computer-readable instructions,data structures, program modules or other data. Computer readablestorage media includes, but is not limited to, RAM, ROM, EPROM, EEPROM,flash memory or other solid state memory technology, CD-ROM, DVD, orother optical storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic diskstorage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other physical ormaterial medium which can be used to tangibly store the desiredinformation or data or instructions and which can be accessed by acomputer or processor.

For the purposes of this disclosure the term “server” should beunderstood to refer to a service point which provides processing,database, and communication facilities. By way of example, and notlimitation, the term “server” can refer to a single, physical processorwith associated communications and data storage and database facilities,or it can refer to a networked or clustered complex of processors andassociated network and storage devices, as well as operating softwareand one or more database systems and application software that supportthe services provided by the server. Servers may vary widely inconfiguration or capabilities, but generally a server may include one ormore central processing units and memory. A server may also include oneor more mass storage devices, one or more power supplies, one or morewired or wireless network interfaces, one or more input/outputinterfaces, or one or more operating systems, such as Windows Server,Mac OS X, Unix, Linux, FreeBSD, or the like.

For the purposes of this disclosure a “network” should be understood torefer to a network that may couple devices so that communications may beexchanged, such as between a server and a client device or other typesof devices, including between wireless devices coupled via a wirelessnetwork, for example. A network may also include mass storage, such asnetwork attached storage (NAS), a storage area network (SAN), or otherforms of computer or machine readable media, for example. A network mayinclude the Internet, one or more local area networks (LANs), one ormore wide area networks (WANs), wire-line type connections, wirelesstype connections, cellular or any combination thereof. Likewise,sub-networks, which may employ differing architectures or may becompliant or compatible with differing protocols, may interoperatewithin a larger network. Various types of devices may, for example, bemade available to provide an interoperable capability for differingarchitectures or protocols. As one illustrative example, a router mayprovide a link between otherwise separate and independent LANs.

A communication link or channel may include, for example, analogtelephone lines, such as a twisted wire pair, a coaxial cable, full orfractional digital lines including T1, T2, T3, or T4 type lines,Integrated Services Digital Networks (ISDNs), Digital Subscriber Lines(DSLs), wireless links including satellite links, or other communicationlinks or channels, such as may be known to those skilled in the art.Furthermore, a computing device or other related electronic devices maybe remotely coupled to a network, such as via a wired or wireless lineor link, for example.

For purposes of this disclosure, a “wireless network” should beunderstood to couple client devices with a network. A wireless networkmay employ stand-alone ad-hoc networks, mesh networks, Wireless LAN(WLAN) networks, cellular networks, or the like. A wireless network mayfurther include a system of terminals, gateways, routers, or the likecoupled by wireless radio links, or the like, which may move freely,randomly or organize themselves arbitrarily, such that network topologymay change, at times even rapidly.

A wireless network may further employ a plurality of network accesstechnologies, including Wi-Fi, Long Term Evolution (LTE), WLAN, WirelessRouter (WR) mesh, or 2nd, 3rd, or 4th generation (2G, 3G, or 4G)cellular technology, or the like. Network access technologies may enablewide area coverage for devices, such as client devices with varyingdegrees of mobility, for example.

For example, a network may enable RF or wireless type communication viaone or more network access technologies, such as Global System forMobile communication (GSM), Universal Mobile Telecommunications System(UMTS), General Packet Radio Services (GPRS), Enhanced Data GSMEnvironment (EDGE), 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE Advanced,Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), Bluetooth, 802.11b/g/n,or the like. A wireless network may include virtually any type ofwireless communication mechanism by which signals may be communicatedbetween devices, such as a client device or a computing device, betweenor within a network, or the like.

A computing device may be capable of sending or receiving signals, suchas via a wired or wireless network, or may be capable of processing orstoring signals, such as in memory as physical memory states, and may,therefore, operate as a server. Thus, devices capable of operating as aserver may include, as examples, dedicated rack-mounted servers, desktopcomputers, laptop computers, set top boxes, integrated devices combiningvarious features, such as two or more features of the foregoing devices,or the like. Servers may vary widely in configuration or capabilities,but generally a server may include one or more central processing unitsand memory. A server may also include one or more mass storage devices,one or more power supplies, one or more wired or wireless networkinterfaces, one or more input/output interfaces, or one or moreoperating systems, such as Windows Server, Mac OS X, Unix, Linux,FreeBSD, or the like.

For purposes of this disclosure, a client (or consumer or user) devicemay include a computing device capable of sending or receiving signals,such as via a wired or a wireless network. A client device may, forexample, include a desktop computer or a portable device, such as acellular telephone, a smart phone, a display pager, a radio frequency(RF) device, an infrared (IR) device an Near Field Communication (NFC)device, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a handheld computer, atablet computer, a phablet, a laptop computer, a set top box, a wearablecomputer, smart watch, an integrated or distributed device combiningvarious features, such as features of the forgoing devices, or the like.

A client device may vary in terms of capabilities or features. Claimedsubject matter is intended to cover a wide range of potentialvariations. For example, a simple smart phone, phablet or tablet mayinclude a numeric keypad or a display of limited functionality, such asa monochrome liquid crystal display (LCD) for displaying text. Incontrast, however, as another example, a web-enabled client device mayinclude a high resolution screen, one or more physical or virtualkeyboards, mass storage, one or more accelerometers, one or moregyroscopes, global positioning system (GPS) or otherlocation-identifying type capability, or a display with a high degree offunctionality, such as a touch-sensitive color 2D or 3D display, forexample.

A client device may include or may execute a variety of operatingsystems, including a personal computer operating system, such as aWindows, iOS or Linux, or a mobile operating system, such as iOS,Android, or Windows Mobile, or the like.

A client device may include or may execute a variety of possibleapplications, such as a client software application enablingcommunication with other devices, such as communicating one or moremessages, such as via email, for example Yahoo!® Mail, short messageservice (SMS), or multimedia message service (MMS), for example Yahoo!Messenger®, including via a network, such as a social network,including, for example, Tumblr®, Facebook®, LinkedIn®, Twitter®,Flickr®, or Google+®, Instagram™, to provide only a few possibleexamples. A client device may also include or execute an application tocommunicate content, such as, for example, textual content, multimediacontent, or the like. A client device may also include or execute anapplication to perform a variety of possible tasks, such as browsing,searching, playing or displaying various forms of content, includinglocally stored or streamed video, or games (such as fantasy sportsleagues). The foregoing is provided to illustrate that claimed subjectmatter is intended to include a wide range of possible features orcapabilities.

The detailed description provided herein is not intended as an extensiveor detailed discussion of known concepts, and as such, details that areknown generally to those of ordinary skill in the relevant art may havebeen omitted or may be handled in summary fashion.

The vast majority of electronic messages (e.g., an electronic mailmessage, or email message) received by users of an electronic messagingsystem are sent by online providers (e.g., online merchants, e-commerceproviders, etc.) that embed links in their electronic messages. When auser of the electronic messaging system activates a link in anelectronic message displayed by the electronic messaging system, theuser is transferred from the electronic messaging system to a web page(and a browser application displaying the web page) of the onlineprovider whose link is activated. This approach causes the electronicmessaging system to lose control of its user, when the user is divertedto the online provider's web page upon the selection, by the user, ofthe link in the electronic message being viewed by the user using theelectronic messaging system. Once the user clicks on an embedded link,the user is transferred from the electronic messaging system (and itsuser interface familiar to the user) to an unfamiliar interface providedby the online provider.

As such, the instant disclosure provides a novel solution addressing theimmediate demand for an automated system, application and/or platformthat allows an electronic messaging system to maintain control of itsusers and to effectuate a consistent, familiar user interface in whichits users can view information (e.g., linked information) of any onlineprovider sending electronic messages to its users, and that effectuatesincreased speed and efficiency in the ways that users can use theelectronic messaging system to access such information using aconsistent user interface across the online providers without leavingthe electronic messaging system's environment (including its applicationfeatures and user interface), and minimize user effort. The presentdisclosure provides novel systems and methods for automatic web browsingin an electronic messaging system user interface.

According to some embodiments, the disclosed systems and methodsreceive, in a user interface of the electronic messaging system from auser of the electronic messaging system, a request for display of anelectronic message originating from an online provider and directed tothe user of the electronic messaging system, in a user interface of anelectronic messaging system. In response to the user request for theelectronic message's display, the electronic message is retrieved from adigital store of the electronic messaging system. The retrieval of theelectronic message comprises ensuring that any link, of the onlineprovider, associated with any item of information, available from theonline provider referenced in the electronic message, is excluded fromthe electronic message, the ensuring comprising ensuring thatinformation about an item, of the online provider, is contained in theelectronic message rather than an associated web page link, of theonline provider, for the item. The electronic message, with theinformation about each item rather than the web page link associatedwith the item, is then displayed in the electronic messaging system'suser interface in response to the display request of the user. Itemselection input, of the user, is received, via the electronic messagingsystem's user interface, the received item selection input indicating aselection of an item from the display of the electronic message.Information about the selected item is then stored, in the digital storeof the electronic messaging system.

In response to the user selection input, a user interface elementrepresenting a digital store of user-selected items is displayed in theelectronic messaging system's user interface, via the computing device,the user interface element comprising an indicator that the selecteditem is stored in the digital store of user-selected items. A request ofthe user regarding the item included in the digital store ofuser-selected items is received, via the user interface elementdisplayed in the electronic messaging system's user interface. At leastone operation is then performed, using the electronic messaging system,in response to the request, of the user, regarding the item included inthe digital store of user-selected items.

Certain embodiments will now be described in greater detail withreference to the figures. The following describes components of ageneral architecture used within the disclosed system and methods, theoperation of which with respect to the disclosed system and methodsbeing described herein. In general, with reference to FIG. 1 , a system100 in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown.FIG. 1 shows components of a general environment in which the systemsand methods discussed herein may be practiced. Not all the componentsmay be required to practice the disclosure, and variations in thearrangement and type of the components may be made without departingfrom the spirit or scope of the disclosure. As shown, system 100 of FIG.1 includes local area networks (“LANs”)/wide area networks(“WANs”)—network 105, wireless network 110, mobile devices (clientdevices) 102-104 and client device 101. FIG. 1 additionally includes avariety of servers, such as, by way of non-limiting examples, contentserver 106, application (or “App”) server 108, search server 120 andadvertising (“ad”) server (not shown).

One embodiment of mobile devices 102-104 is described in more detailbelow. Generally, however, mobile devices 102-104 may include virtuallyany portable computing device capable of receiving and sending a messageover a network, such as network 105, wireless network 110, or the like.Mobile devices 102-104 may also be described generally as client devicesthat are configured to be portable. Thus, mobile devices 102-104 mayinclude virtually any portable computing device capable of connecting toanother computing device and receiving information. Such devices includemulti-touch and portable devices such as, cellular telephones, smartphones, display pagers, radio frequency (RF) devices, infrared (IR)devices, Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), handheld computers, laptopcomputers, wearable computers, smart watch, tablet computers, phablets,integrated devices combining one or more of the preceding devices, andthe like. As such, mobile devices 102-104 typically range widely interms of capabilities and features. For example, a cell phone may have anumeric keypad and a few lines of monochrome LCD display on which onlytext may be displayed. In another example, a web-enabled mobile devicemay have a touch sensitive screen, a stylus, and an HD display in whichboth text and graphics may be displayed.

A web-enabled mobile device may include a browser application that isconfigured to receive and to send web pages, web-based messages, and thelike. The browser application may be configured to receive and displaygraphics, text, multimedia, and the like, employing virtually any webbased language, including a wireless application protocol messages(WAP), and the like. In one embodiment, the browser application isenabled to employ Handheld Device Markup Language (HDML), WirelessMarkup Language (WML), WMLScript, JavaScript, Standard GeneralizedMarkup Language (SMGL), HyperText Markup Language (HTML), eXtensibleMarkup Language (XML), and the like, to display and send a message.

Mobile devices 102-104 also may include at least one client applicationthat is configured to receive content from another computing device. Theclient application may include a capability to provide and receivetextual content, graphical content, audio content, and the like. Theclient application may further provide information that identifiesitself, including a type, capability, name, and the like. In oneembodiment, mobile devices 102-104 may uniquely identify themselvesthrough any of a variety of mechanisms, including a phone number, MobileIdentification Number (MIN), an electronic serial number (ESN), or othermobile device identifier.

In some embodiments, mobile devices 102-104 may also communicate withnon-mobile client devices, such as client device 101, or the like. Inone embodiment, such communications may include sending and/or receivingmessages, searching for, viewing and/or sharing photographs, audioclips, video clips, or any of a variety of other forms ofcommunications. Client device 101 may include virtually any computingdevice capable of communicating over a network to send and receiveinformation. The set of such devices may include devices that typicallyconnect using a wired or wireless communications medium such as personalcomputers, multiprocessor systems, microprocessor-based or programmableconsumer electronics, network PCs, or the like. Thus, client device 101may also have differing capabilities for displaying navigable views ofinformation.

Client devices 101-104 computing device may be capable of sending orreceiving signals, such as via a wired or wireless network, or may becapable of processing or storing signals, such as in memory as physicalmemory states, and may, therefore, operate as a server. Thus, devicescapable of operating as a server may include, as examples, dedicatedrack-mounted servers, desktop computers, laptop computers, set topboxes, integrated devices combining various features, such as two ormore features of the foregoing devices, or the like.

Wireless network 110 is configured to couple mobile devices 102-104 andits components with network 105. Wireless network 110 may include any ofa variety of wireless sub-networks that may further overlay stand-alonead-hoc networks, and the like, to provide an infrastructure-orientedconnection for mobile devices 102-104. Such sub-networks may includemesh networks, Wireless LAN (WLAN) networks, cellular networks, and thelike.

Network 105 is configured to couple content server 106, applicationserver 108, or the like, with other computing devices, including, clientdevice 101, and through wireless network 110 to mobile devices 102-104.Network 105 is enabled to employ any form of computer readable media forcommunicating information from one electronic device to another. Also,network 105 can include the Internet in addition to local area networks(LANs), wide area networks (WANs), direct connections, such as through auniversal serial bus (USB) port, other forms of computer-readable media,or any combination thereof. On an interconnected set of LANs, includingthose based on differing architectures and protocols, a router acts as alink between LANs, enabling messages to be sent from one to another,and/or other computing devices.

Within the communications networks utilized or understood to beapplicable to the present disclosure, such networks will employ variousprotocols that are used for communication over the network. Signalpackets communicated via a network, such as a network of participatingdigital communication networks, may be compatible with or compliant withone or more protocols. Signaling formats or protocols employed mayinclude, for example, TCP/IP, UDP, QUIC (Quick UDP Internet Connection),DECnet, NetBEUT, IPX, APPLETALK™, or the like. Versions of the InternetProtocol (IP) may include IPv4 or IPv6. The Internet refers to adecentralized global network of networks. The Internet includes localarea networks (LANs), wide area networks (WANs), wireless networks, orlong haul public networks that, for example, allow signal packets to becommunicated between LANs. Signal packets may be communicated betweennodes of a network, such as, for example, to one or more sites employinga local network address. A signal packet may, for example, becommunicated over the Internet from a user site via an access nodecoupled to the Internet. Likewise, a signal packet may be forwarded vianetwork nodes to a target site coupled to the network via a networkaccess node, for example. A signal packet communicated via the Internetmay, for example, be routed via a path of gateways, servers, etc. thatmay route the signal packet in accordance with a target address andavailability of a network path to the target address.

According to some embodiments, the present disclosure may also beutilized within or accessible to an electronic social networking site. Asocial network refers generally to an electronic network of individuals,such as acquaintances, friends, family, colleagues, or co-workers, whichare coupled via a communications network or via a variety ofsub-networks. Potentially, additional relationships may subsequently beformed as a result of social interaction via the communications networkor sub-networks. In some embodiments, multi-modal communications mayoccur between members of the social network. Individuals within one ormore social networks may interact or communication with other members ofa social network via a variety of devices. Multi-modal communicationtechnologies refers to a set of technologies that permit interoperablecommunication across multiple devices or platforms, such as cell phones,smart phones, tablet computing devices, phablets, personal computers,televisions, set-top boxes, SMS/MMS, email, instant messenger clients,forums, social networking sites, or the like.

In some embodiments, the disclosed networks 110 and/or 105 may comprisea content distribution network(s). A “content delivery network” or“content distribution network” (CDN) generally refers to a distributedcontent delivery system that comprises a collection of computers orcomputing devices linked by a network or networks. A CDN may employsoftware, systems, protocols or techniques to facilitate variousservices, such as storage, caching, communication of content, orstreaming media or applications. A CDN may also enable an entity tooperate or manage another's site infrastructure, in whole or in part.

The content server 106 may include a device that includes aconfiguration to provide content via a network to another device. Acontent server 106 may, for example, host a site or service, such asstreaming media site/service (e.g., YouTube®), an email platform orsocial networking site, or a personal user site (such as a blog, vlog,online dating site, and the like). A content server 106 may also host avariety of other sites, including, but not limited to business sites,educational sites, dictionary sites, encyclopedia sites, wikis,financial sites, government sites, and the like. Devices that mayoperate as content server 106 include personal computers desktopcomputers, multiprocessor systems, microprocessor-based or programmableconsumer electronics, network PCs, servers, and the like.

Content server 106 can further provide a variety of services thatinclude, but are not limited to, streaming and/or downloading mediaservices, search services, email services, photo services, web services,social networking services, news services, third-party services, audioservices, video services, instant messaging (IM) services, SMS services,MMS services, FTP services, voice over IP (VOIP) services, or the like.Such services, for example a video application and/or video platform,can be provided via the application server 108, whereby a user is ableto utilize such service upon the user being authenticated, verified oridentified by the service. Examples of content may include images, text,audio, video, or the like, which may be processed in the form ofphysical signals, such as electrical signals, for example, or may bestored in memory, as physical states, for example.

An ad server comprises a server that stores online advertisements forpresentation to users. “Ad serving” refers to methods used to placeonline advertisements on websites, in applications, or other placeswhere users are more likely to see them, such as during an onlinesession or during computing platform use, for example. Variousmonetization techniques or models may be used in connection withsponsored advertising, including advertising associated with user. Suchsponsored advertising includes monetization techniques includingsponsored search advertising, non-sponsored search advertising,guaranteed and non-guaranteed delivery advertising, adnetworks/exchanges, ad targeting, ad serving and ad analytics. Suchsystems can incorporate near instantaneous auctions of ad placementopportunities during web page creation, (in some cases in less than 500milliseconds) with higher quality ad placement opportunities resultingin higher revenues per ad. That is advertisers will pay higheradvertising rates when they believe their ads are being placed in oralong with highly relevant content that is being presented to users.Reductions in the time needed to quantify a high quality ad placementoffers ad platforms competitive advantages. Thus higher speeds and morerelevant context detection improve these technological fields.

For example, a process of buying or selling online advertisements mayinvolve a number of different entities, including advertisers,publishers, agencies, networks, or developers. To simplify this process,organization systems called “ad exchanges” may associate advertisers orpublishers, such as via a platform to facilitate buying or selling ofonline advertisement inventory from multiple ad networks. “Ad networks”refers to aggregation of ad space supply from publishers, such as forprovision en masse to advertisers. For web portals like Yahoo!®,advertisements may be displayed on web pages or in apps resulting from auser-defined search based at least in part upon one or more searchterms. Advertising may be beneficial to users, advertisers or webportals if displayed advertisements are relevant to interests of one ormore users. Thus, a variety of techniques have been developed to inferuser interest, user intent or to subsequently target relevantadvertising to users. One approach to presenting targeted advertisementsincludes employing demographic characteristics (e.g., age, income, sex,occupation, etc.) for predicting user behavior, such as by group.Advertisements may be presented to users in a targeted audience based atleast in part upon predicted user behavior(s).

Another approach includes profile-type ad targeting. In this approach,user profiles specific to a user may be generated to model userbehavior, for example, by tracking a user's path through a web site ornetwork of sites, and compiling a profile based at least in part onpages or advertisements ultimately delivered. A correlation may beidentified, such as for user purchases, for example. An identifiedcorrelation may be used to target potential purchasers by targetingcontent or advertisements to particular users. During presentation ofadvertisements, a presentation system may collect descriptive contentabout types of advertisements presented to users. A broad range ofdescriptive content may be gathered, including content specific to anadvertising presentation system. Advertising analytics gathered may betransmitted to locations remote to an advertising presentation systemfor storage or for further evaluation. Where advertising analyticstransmittal is not immediately available, gathered advertising analyticsmay be stored by an advertising presentation system until transmittal ofthose advertising analytics becomes available.

Servers 106, 108 and 120 may be capable of sending or receiving signals,such as via a wired or wireless network, or may be capable of processingor storing signals, such as in memory as physical memory states. Devicescapable of operating as a server may include, as examples, dedicatedrack-mounted servers, desktop computers, laptop computers, set topboxes, integrated devices combining various features, such as two ormore features of the foregoing devices, or the like. Servers may varywidely in configuration or capabilities, but generally, a server mayinclude one or more central processing units and memory. A server mayalso include one or more mass storage devices, one or more powersupplies, one or more wired or wireless network interfaces, one or moreinput/output interfaces, or one or more operating systems, such asWindows Server, Mac OS X, Unix, Linux, FreeBSD, or the like.

In some embodiments, users are able to access services provided byservers 106, 108 and/or 120. This may include in a non-limiting example,authentication servers, search servers, email servers, social networkingservices servers, SMS servers, IM servers, MMS servers, exchangeservers, photo-sharing services servers, and travel services servers,via the network 105 using their various devices 101-104. In someembodiments, applications, such as a streaming video application (e.g.,YouTube®, Netflix®, Hulu®, iTunes®, Amazon Prime®, HBO Go®, and thelike), blog, photo storage/sharing application or social networkingapplication (e.g., Flickr®, Tumblr®, and the like), can be hosted by theapplication server 108 (or content server 106, search server 120 and thelike). Thus, the application server 108 can store various types ofapplications and application related information including applicationdata and user profile information (e.g., identifying and behavioralinformation associated with a user). It should also be understood thatcontent server 106 can also store various types of data related to thecontent and services provided by content server 106 in an associatedcontent database 107, as discussed in more detail below. Embodimentsexist where the network 105 is also coupled with/connected to a TrustedSearch Server (TSS) which can be utilized to render content inaccordance with the embodiments discussed herein. Embodiments existwhere the TSS functionality can be embodied within servers 106, 108,120, or an ad server or ad network.

Moreover, although FIG. 1 illustrates servers 106, 108 and 120 as singlecomputing devices, respectively, the disclosure is not so limited. Forexample, one or more functions of servers 106, 108 and/or 120 may bedistributed across one or more distinct computing devices. Moreover, inone embodiment, servers 106, 108 and/or 120 may be integrated into asingle computing device, without departing from the scope of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating a client device showing anexample embodiment of a client device that may be used within thepresent disclosure. Client device 200 may include many more or lesscomponents than those shown in FIG. 2 . However, the components shownare sufficient to disclose an illustrative embodiment for implementingthe present disclosure. Client device 200 may represent, for example,client devices discussed above in relation to FIG. 1 .

As shown in the figure, client device 200 includes a processing unit(CPU) 222 in communication with a mass memory 230 via a bus 224. Clientdevice 200 also includes a power supply 226, one or more networkinterfaces 250, an audio interface 252, a display 254, a keypad 256, anilluminator 258, an input/output interface 260, a haptic interface 262,an optional global positioning systems (GPS) receiver 264 and acamera(s) or other optical, thermal or electromagnetic sensors 266.Device 200 can include one camera/sensor 266, or a plurality ofcameras/sensors 266, as understood by those of skill in the art. Thepositioning of the camera(s)/sensor(s) 266 on device 200 can change perdevice 200 model, per device 200 capabilities, and the like, or somecombination thereof.

Power supply 226 provides power to client device 200. A rechargeable ornon-rechargeable battery may be used to provide power. The power mayalso be provided by an external power source, such as an AC adapter or apowered docking cradle that supplements and/or recharges a battery.

Client device 200 may optionally communicate with a base station (notshown), or directly with another computing device. Network interface 250includes circuitry for coupling Client device 200 to one or morenetworks, and is constructed for use with one or more communicationprotocols and technologies as discussed above. Network interface 250 issometimes known as a transceiver, transceiving device, or networkinterface card (NIC).

Audio interface 252 is arranged to produce and receive audio signalssuch as the sound of a human voice. For example, audio interface 252 maybe coupled to a speaker and microphone (not shown) to enabletelecommunication with others and/or generate an audio acknowledgementfor some action. Display 254 may be a liquid crystal display (LCD), gasplasma, light emitting diode (LED), or any other type of display usedwith a computing device. Display 254 may also include a touch sensitivescreen arranged to receive input from an object such as a stylus or adigit from a human hand.

Keypad 256 may comprise any input device arranged to receive input froma user. For example, keypad 256 may include a push button numeric dial,or a keyboard. Keypad 256 may also include command buttons that areassociated with selecting and sending images. Illuminator 258 mayprovide a status indication and/or provide light. Illuminator 258 mayremain active for specific periods of time or in response to events. Forexample, when illuminator 258 is active, it may backlight the buttons onkeypad 256 and stay on while the client device is powered. Also,illuminator 258 may backlight these buttons in various patterns whenparticular actions are performed, such as dialing another client device.Illuminator 258 may also cause light sources positioned within atransparent or translucent case of the client device to illuminate inresponse to actions.

Client device 200 also comprises input/output interface 260 forcommunicating with external devices, such as a headset, or other inputor output devices not shown in FIG. 2 . Input/output interface 260 canutilize one or more communication technologies, such as USB, infrared,Bluetooth™, or the like. Haptic interface 262 is arranged to providetactile feedback to a user of the client device. For example, the hapticinterface may be employed to vibrate client device 200 in a particularway when the client device 200 receives a communication from anotheruser.

Optional GPS transceiver 264 can determine the physical coordinates ofclient device 200 on the surface of the Earth, which typically outputs alocation as latitude and longitude values. GPS transceiver 264 can alsoemploy other geo-positioning mechanisms, including, but not limited to,triangulation, assisted GPS (AGPS), E-OTD, CI, SAI, ETA, BSS or thelike, to further determine the physical location of client device 200 onthe surface of the Earth. It is understood that under differentconditions, GPS transceiver 264 can determine a physical location withinmillimeters for client device 200; and in other cases, the determinedphysical location may be less precise, such as within a meter orsignificantly greater distances. In one embodiment, however, clientdevice 200 may through other components, provide other information thatmay be employed to determine a physical location of the device,including for example, a MAC address, Internet Protocol (IP) address, orthe like.

Mass memory 230 includes a RAM 232, a ROM 234, and other storage means.Mass memory 230 illustrates another example of computer storage mediafor storage of information such as computer readable instructions, datastructures, program modules or other data. Mass memory 230 stores abasic input/output system (“BIOS”) 240 for controlling low-leveloperation of client device 200. The mass memory also stores an operatingsystem 241 for controlling the operation of client device 200. It willbe appreciated that this component may include a general purposeoperating system such as a version of UNIX, or LINUX™, or a specializedclient communication operating system such as Windows Client™, or theSymbian® operating system. The operating system may include, orinterface with a Java virtual machine module that enables control ofhardware components and/or operating system operations via Javaapplication programs.

Memory 230 further includes one or more data stores, which can beutilized by client device 200 to store, among other things, applications242 and/or other data. For example, data stores may be employed to storeinformation that describes various capabilities of client device 200.The information may then be provided to another device based on any of avariety of events, including being sent as part of a header during acommunication, sent upon request, or the like. At least a portion of thecapability information may also be stored on a disk drive or otherstorage medium (not shown) within client device 200.

Applications 242 may include computer executable instructions which,when executed by client device 200, transmit, receive, and/or otherwiseprocess audio, video, images, and enable telecommunication with a serverand/or another user of another client device. Other examples ofapplication programs or “apps” in some embodiments include browsers,calendars, contact managers, task managers, transcoders, photomanagement, database programs, word processing programs, securityapplications, spreadsheet programs, games, search programs, and soforth. Applications 242 may further include search client 245 that isconfigured to send, to receive, and/or to otherwise process a searchquery and/or search result using any known or to be known communicationprotocols. Although a single search client 245 is illustrated it shouldbe clear that multiple search clients may be employed. For example, onesearch client may be configured to enter a search query message, whereanother search client manages search results, and yet another searchclient is configured to manage serving advertisements, IMs, emails, andother types of known messages, or the like.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating the components for performing thesystems and methods discussed herein. FIG. 3 includes an electronicmessaging engine 300, network 310 and database 320. The electronicmessaging engine 300 can be a special purpose machine or processor andcould be hosted by an application server, content server, socialnetworking server, web server, search server, content provider, emailservice provider, ad server, user's computing device, and the like, orany combination thereof.

According to some embodiments, electronic messaging engine 300 can beembodied as a stand-alone application that executes on a user device(e.g., client device 101, mobile device 102, 103 or 104, or mobiledevice 200). In some embodiments, the electronic messaging engine 300can function as an application installed on the user's device, and insome embodiments, such application can be a web-based application (e.g.,an electronic messaging system application executing on a server, suchas and without limitation application server 108) accessed by the userdevice over a network.

The database 320 can be any type of database or memory, and can beassociated with a server on a network (such as and without limitation acontent server, search server, application server, etc.) or a user'sdevice. Database 320 comprises a dataset of data and metadata associatedwith local and/or network information related to users, services,applications, content (e.g., video) and the like. Such information canbe stored and indexed in the database 320 independently and/or as alinked or associated dataset. It should be understood that the data (andmetadata) in the database 320 can be any type of information and type,whether known or to be known, without departing from the scope of thepresent disclosure.

According to some embodiments, database 320 can store data for users,e.g., user data. According to some embodiments, the stored user data caninclude, but is not limited to, information associated with a user'sprofile, user interests, user behavioral information, user attributes,user preferences or settings, user demographic information, userlocation information, user biographic information, and the like, or somecombination thereof.

In some embodiments, the user data can also include user deviceinformation, including, but not limited to, device identifyinginformation, device capability information, voice/data carrierinformation, Internet Protocol (IP) address, applications installed orcapable of being installed or executed on such device, and/or any, orsome combination thereof. It should be understood that the data (andmetadata) in the database 320 can be any type of information related toa user, content, a device, an application, a service provider, a contentprovider, whether known or to be known, without departing from the scopeof the present disclosure.

According to some embodiments, database 320 can store electronicmessages of users of the electronic messaging system, such as andwithout limitation electronic messages sent and received by the users.In some embodiments, database 320 can store information about thoseitems selected by a user. For example and for a given item selected by auser, database 320 can store information identifying the user and theitem selected by the user. By way of a further non-limiting example, theitem information can include without limitation some or all of an itemname, part number, model number, stock keeping unit (SKU), universalproduct code (UPC), International Standard Book Number (ISBN), onlineprovider's unique item identification code, online provideridentification information (e.g., online provider's name, universalresource locator (URL), etc.) and user-specified information such as andwithout limitation quantity, size, color, etc.

In some embodiments, database 320 can store information associated witheach order submitted by the user, such as and without limitation, orderdate, order status, items ordered, online provider to which the orderwas submitted, etc. In some embodiments, database 320 can store userinformation, which may be gathered when the user registers with theelectronic messaging system and thereafter. Such user information caninclude without limitation, the user's name, login information (e.g.,login name and password), geographic address (e.g., shipping address,place of residence, etc.), credit card information (e.g., name on card,credit card number, expiration, authorization number or code, etc.).

For purposes of the present disclosure, electronic mail messages andelectronic mail systems are discussed without some embodiments; however,it should not be construed to limit the applications of the systems andmethods discussed herein. That is, while reference is made throughout toemail messages and email systems, other forms of electronic messages(and corresponding systems), such as and without limitation textmessages, instant messages, etc. can be used without departing from thescope of the instant application, which can thereby be communicatedand/or accessed and processed by the electronic messaging engine 300according to the systems and methods discussed herein.

The network 310 can be any type of network such as, but not limited to,a wireless network, a local area network (LAN), wide area network (WAN),the Internet, or a combination thereof. The network 310 facilitatesconnectivity of the electronic messaging engine 300, and the database ofstored resources 320. Indeed, as illustrated in FIG. 3 , the electronicmessaging engine 300 and database 320 can be directly connected by anyknown or to be known method of connecting and/or enabling communicationbetween such devices and resources.

The principal processor, server, or combination of devices thatcomprises hardware programmed in accordance with the special purposefunctions herein is referred to for convenience as electronic messagingengine 300, and includes electronic messaging user interface module 302,electronic message retrieval module 304, item processing module 306, anduser registration module 308. It should be understood that the engine(s)and modules discussed herein are non-exhaustive, as additional or fewerengines and/or modules (or sub-modules) may be applicable to theembodiments of the systems and methods discussed. The operations,configurations and functionalities of each module, and their role withinembodiments of the present disclosure will be discussed with referenceto FIG. 4 .

As discussed in more detail below, the information processed by theelectronic messaging engine 300 can be supplied to the database 320 andretrieved from the database 320 as discussed herein.

FIG. 4 provides a process flow overview in accordance with one or moreembodiments of the present disclosure. Process 400 of FIG. 4 detailssteps performed in accordance with exemplary embodiments of the presentdisclosure for automatic web browsing in an electronic messaging systemuser interface. According to some embodiments, as discussed herein withrelation to FIG. 4 , the process involves automatic web browsing in anelectronic messaging system user interface.

In accordance with at least one embodiment, the disclosed systems andmethods ensure that any electronic message (e.g., an electronic emailmessage from an online provider) that is displayed in the electronicmessage system's user interface (provided by electronic messaging userinterface module 302) is displayed without any web page link to a webpage (or other online web resource) of the sender and associated withany item referenced in the electronic message. Rather than a web pagelink, which upon activation by the user would take the user from theelectronic messaging system to the linked web page, the disclosedsystems and methods ensure that information about the item (of theonline provider) is displayed in the electronic message in place of theweb page link.

In accordance with some embodiments, the disclosed systems and methodsrespond to item selection input, of the user via the electronicmessaging system's user interface, and store (in a digital store of theelectronic messaging system—included in database 320) informationassociated with the user-selected item. In addition, a user interfaceelement is displayed in the electronic messaging system's user interfaceindicating that the selected item is stored in the digital item store.The disclosed systems and methods can respond to a request of the userregarding the item included in the item store and at least one operationis then performed, using the electronic messaging system, in response tothe request, of the user, regarding the item included in the digitalstore of user-selected items.

At step 402, a request is received by messaging engine 300 (e.g., viaelectronic messaging user interface module 302) from a user of theelectronic messaging system. The request is a request to retrieve, openand display (in the user interface of the electronic messagingsystem—the user interface provided by electronic messaging userinterface module 302) an electronic message from an online provider anddirected to the user of the electronic messaging system. By way of anon-limiting example, the online provider can be an e-commerce entitysuch as and without limitation an online merchant and the electronicmessage requested by the user for display can comprise information aboutitems available from the online provider.

For example, a user of the electronic messaging system's user interfacecan select the electronic message (e.g., from a listing of electronicmessages) and select a command to open the electronic message. Referenceis made to FIG. 5 which provides an exemplary example of a display 502of the user interface provided by electronic messaging user interfacemodule 302 for display by a client device 500. With reference to displayarea 504, display 502 indicates that the display area 506 provides alisting of some of the emails in the user's inbox mail folder. In theexample shown in FIG. 5 , the user's inbox mail folder includes amessage from Walmart® in connection with its e-commerce web site.

In a conventional approach discussed above, in connection with itse-commerce web site, Walmart® typically includes at least one web pagelink to items that are available for order via its web site. In additionand with the conventional approach, activation of the web link by theuser in the email message would transfer the user from the electronicmessaging system (and its user interface that is familiar to the user)to the web page linked in the email message. There is no consistencybetween the web page user interface used by Walmart® and any otheronline provider (e.g., the Gap® Online web page user interfaceassociated with a web page link in email message 510).

The disclosed systems and methods, inter alia, retain control of theuser, provide a consistent, familiar user interface (of the electronicmessaging system) across online providers, eliminate the need for theuser to access different, unfamiliar web page user interface and providea mechanism for the electronic messaging system user to browse item(s)offered by any online provider (e.g., Walmart®, the Gap® Online, etc.)from within the user interface of the electronic messaging system.

The electronic message, which is received from a sender (e.g., an onlinemerchant in connection with its e-commerce web site), can include links,each of which corresponds to an item (e.g., an item available from theonline merchant's web site). In a case that the electronic messagecontains a link (or links), the link references a web page (e.g., a webpage provided by the sender) containing information about thecorresponding item. In accordance with embodiments of the presentdisclosure, in a case that the electronic message contains any web linksassociated with items of the online provider, the web links are replacedby information about the item extracted from one or more of electronicmessage (e.g., the link, header information, information in the body ofthe message, etc.), the web page identified by the link, etc.

At step 404, which is performed by electronic message retrieval module304 in response to the user request for the electronic message'sdisplay, the electronic message requested by the user is retrieved froma digital store of the electronic messaging system. In accordance withembodiments of the disclosure, the electronic message that is displayedin response to the request comprises a short description of each item ofthe number of items. Consequently, the retrieval of the electronicmessage (by electronic message retrieval module 304) comprises ensuringthat any web page link, of the online provider, associated with anyitem, of the online provider referenced in the electronic message, isexcluded from the electronic message.

The ensuring comprising ensuring that (when the electronic message isdisplayed via electronic messaging user interface module 302)information about an item, of the online provider, is displayed in theelectronic message rather than any associated web page link, of theonline provider, associated with the item.

In accordance with one or more embodiments, the online provider'selectronic message can comprise web page links to items, a shortdescription of each item rather than a link for each item, or somecombination. A determination is made (e.g., by electronic messageretrieval module 304) whether or not the user-selected electronicmessage contains any web page links to items of the online provider.With reference to email message 508 of FIG. 5 , the determination ismade whether the email message includes any web page links (to one ormore items for ordering at Walmart®'s online site). In the case that theelectronic message contains web page links, the disclosed systems andmethods replace each link with information about the item (e.g., an itemdescription).

For example, the determination whether or not an email message includesweb page links can be made by parsing the email message to find any suchlinks. As yet further illustration, the underlying email message can bewritten in a markup language, such as and without limitation, theHypertext Markup Language (or HTML). In such a case, the HTML source ofthe email message can be searched, or parsed, to determine whether ornot the source includes an HTML element (or tag) comprising a link to anexternal source (e.g., a link to a web page of the online provider. Forexample, the “a” element in HTML can include an “href” attribute nametogether with an attribute value that points to a web page of the onlineprovider. The attribute value pointing to the web page might be auniversal resource locator (or URL) comprising a domain name of theonline provider. In the case of Walmart®, the URL includeswww.walmart.com.

In accordance with one or more embodiments, in the case that theelectronic message contains one or more links (each link correspondingto an item, or a linked item), each link contained in the electronicmessage is replaced with a short description of the linked item prior tothe display of the contents of the electronic message. That is, unlikethe conventional approach of displaying a sender's link (e.g., to a webpage corresponding to the linked item), the disclosed systems andmethods display an electronic message without the link and withinformation about the linked item in place of the link.

FIG. 6 provides an exemplary example of a display 602 provided byelectronic messaging user interface module 302, for display at clientdevice 500, in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure.Display 602 comprises a display 604 of the user-selected email message508. The display 602 is provided by electronic messaging user interfacemodule 302 in response to the user's selection of email message 508 indisplay 502. The display 604 includes a number of items offered at thee-commerce web site of Walmart®. Rather than web links to the items, thedisplay 604 of the user-selected message comprises information about theitems available from Walmart®. For example, entry 606 corresponds to anitem of fabric conditioner. Rather than a web link that would cause theuser to be transferred to Walmart®'s web site when activated by theuser, the display 604 includes display entry 606 comprising informationabout the fabric conditioner (e.g., an image of the item, descriptiveinformation, size, price, etc.) in place of the web link.

In accordance with one or more embodiments, a web link can be replacedwith information associated with the item, such as and withoutlimitation information contained in the web link, information containedin the web page identified by the web link, or some combination thereof.For example, the web link can be replaced by information descriptive ofthe item, e.g., an item name (e.g., Downy Fabric Conditioner), size(e.g., “90 fl. oz.), price (e.g., $6.94), color, etc. The item name andsize, for example, can be extracted from the following web link (fromthe original electronic message sent by Walmart®):

“www.walmart.com/ip/Downy-Ultra-Liquid-Fabric-Conditioner-AprilFresh-105-Loads-90-fl-oz/14574631”

By way of a further non-limiting example, other information (e.g., animage of the item, price, quantities available, and the like) might beextracted from the web page associated with the above web link. In theexample web link shown above, the link includes a unique itemidentifier, “14574631”, which can be extracted (e.g., by item processingmodule 306) and associated (in database 320) with the entry 606. Theitem identifier can be used by item processing module 306 whensubmitting an order for the item requested by the user.

Thus, at step 404 of FIG. 4 , the electronic message retrieval module304 provides the electronic message excluding any web page links toitems to electronic messaging user interface module 302, which providesa display of the email message comprising item information in place ofany web page links (which are designed to transfer the user from theelectronic messaging system to the sender's web site). In a case that auser-selected email message does contain one or more web page linkscorresponding to items of the online provider, a view of theuser-selected email message is constructed to ensure that the web pagelinks are not displayed, but rather the web page links re replaced withinformation descriptive of each item.

In accordance with some embodiments, the newly-constructed email messageis stored (via electronic message retrieval module 304) in a digitalstore (e.g., database 320) of the electronic messaging system so that itcan be retrieved for display by the electronic messaging system in acase that the user subsequently selects the email message for display.

In accordance with one or more embodiments, an online provider can beregistered with the electronic messaging system (via registration module308). As a registered sender, the online provider can agree to excludeweb page links from its electronic messages and to use informationdescriptive of each of its items in place of any web links. Inaccordance with at least one embodiment, a registered sender can includea digital signature (e.g., in a header of the electronic message), whichcan be located (e.g., by parsing the electronic message), extracted andverified to identify the sender as a registered sender. In addition, theelectronic message can be analyzed (e.g., as discussed above) to ensurethat the message does not include any web page links. By way of anon-limiting example, a registered sender can use Accelerated MobilePages (AMP) for email so that the content of the email message can bedisplayed by the electronic messaging user interface 302.

Referring again to FIG. 6 , each item (offered by the online provider)in the display 604 of the user-selected email message has an associatedbutton (e.g., “Add” button 608), which can be selected by the user toadd the item to a digital store of selected items associated with theuser (the online provider and the electronic message) maintained by theelectronic messaging system (e.g., item processing module 306 viadatabase 320).

At step 408, item selection input is received (e.g., via the “Add”button 608 associated with an item) by the electronic messaging userinterface module 302. Information about the selected item is thenstored, at step 410 (e.g., by item processing module 306) in a digitalstore of user-selected items associated with the user (e.g., in database320). In accordance with one or more embodiments, the digital store ofuser-selected items can comprise, for each item in the digital store,item identification information (e.g., item name, part number, modelnumber, stock keeping unit (SKU), universal product code (UPC),International Standard Book Number (ISBN), online provider's unique itemidentification code), online provider identification information (e.g.,online provider's name, universal resource locator (URL), etc.) anduser-specified information such as and without limitation quantity,size, color, etc.

As discussed above, a unique item identifier retrieved from the web pagelink, the web page, etc. associated with the item's entry in display 602can be retrieved and associated with the user-selected item in thedigital store of user-selected items in response to the user's selectionof button 608 associated with item 606 in display 602.

In addition to an ability to add an item to the digital store ofuser-selected items, the disclosed systems and methods provides toolsfor use in the electronic messaging system to edit the digital store ofuser-selected items (e.g., delete an item from the digital store ofuser-selected items, change the quantity of an item in the digitalstore, etc.) and to submit an order request, from within the electronicmessaging system (and its user interface) to order the items in thedigital store of the user-selected items from the online provider(s)associated with each item in the digital store.

At step 410, in response to receipt of the input indicating the user'sitem selection (at step 408), the electronic messaging user interfacemodule 302 displays a confirmation of the item selection in the userinterface. In the example of FIG. 6 , the confirmation display comprisesuser interface element 610, which includes an indicator 612 of the item(e.g., an image of the selected item). In the example of FIG. 6 ,indicator 612 is one of a number of indicators 614 of items selected bythe user. In accordance with one or more embodiments, user interfaceelement 610 notifies the user of the items contained in the digitalstore of user-selected items associated with at least one onlineprovider. A scroll capability is available (e.g., via user interfaceelement 616) to view all of the items selected by the user.

In display area 504 of FIG. 6 , a user interface element 620 (e.g., a“Back” arrow) allows the user to return to display 502 of FIG. 5 .Display area 618 of FIG. 6 allows the user to delete the current emailmessage (e.g., the message displayed in display 602), generate a newemail message, save the current email message in a folder or reply tothe current email message.

In accordance with one or more embodiments, the user can view a moredetailed listing of the items stored in the digital store ofuser-selected items by clicking in user interface element 610 of FIG. 6. FIG. 7 provides an exemplary example of a detailed view ofuser-selected items stored in a digital of user-selected items. In FIG.7 , the user-selected items comprise items selected from one or moreelectronic messages displayed by electronic messaging user interfacemodule 302.

Display area 702 comprises a listing of the items selected by the user.The listing includes an entry 704 added to the list in response to theuser's selection of “Add” button 608 of FIG. 6 . Entry 704 includes animage representative of each user-selected item, a textual descriptionof the user-selected item (e.g., “Downey Fabric Condition, 90 fl. oz.”),and a quantity of the item. Other information not shown in FIG. 7 can beincluded in the display 702, such as and without limitation color.

By way of some non-limiting examples, an item that can be displayed inan online provider's email message can be a product, good, service, etc.The digital store of user-selected items can be represented in theelectronic messaging system's user interface as a user interface element(e.g., a shopping cart user interface element, such as element 610 ofFIG. 6 ).

In accordance with at least one embodiment, the electronic messagingsystem provides an ability to process requests (e.g., order, add,delete, update) by the user in connection with items in the digital itemstorage of user-selected items. In accordance with at least oneembodiment, the display of FIG. 7 can be used to edit the digital store(e.g., delete an item, change a quantity, size, etc.), and the like. Inaddition and in accordance with at least one embodiment, the user cansubmit an order for the items in the digital store of user-selecteditems with the online provider(s) associated with items in the digitalstore.

At step 414, an item processing request is received from the user inconnection with the digital store of user-selected items. In the exampleshown in FIG. 7 , the user can select user interface element 708 indisplay area 706. In addition, to the user interface element (e.g.,button) 708, display area 706 includes information indicating the numberof items in the digital store of user-selected items, the total cost ofthe items, a delivery address for delivering the items being ordered andpayment information (e.g., information identifying the credit cardcurrently set to be used for the order—e.g., the last four digits of thecredit card).

As discussed herein, input other than an order request can be receivedat step 414. For example, the user input can be a request to delete anitem from the user-selected items, update information (e.g., change asize, color, quantity, etc.) associated with a user-selected item, addan item to the user-selected items, etc. In response, the itemprocessing module 306 can update the digital store of user-selecteditems accordingly (e.g., update an item's information in the store, adda new item to the digital store, delete an item from the items in thedigital store, etc.

In accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure, the user isable to submit a request, from within the electronic messaging system(and its user interface) to order each item in a digital store of theuser-selected items from each online provider(s) associated with an itemin the digital store. In response to an order request received from theuser interface of the electronic messaging system (via the electronicmessaging user interface module 302) and by a user of the electronicmessaging system, the order request is processed by item processingmodule 306 with respect to each item in the digital store ofuser-selected items (e.g., the digital store of user-selected itemsassociated with the order request and maintained by the electronicmessaging system) by coordinating with each online provider having anitem in the digital store of user-selected items.

In accordance with at least one embodiment, the digital store ofuser-selected items can store items associated with different onlineproviders, so that the digital store of user-selected items can compriseitems from different online providers at any time. In a case that thedigital store of the user's selected items includes items from a numberof online providers, the disclosed systems and methods coordinate theuser's request with each online provider. Alternatively, the disclosedsystems and methods can maintain multiple digital stores ofuser-selected items (e.g., a different digital store for each onlineprovider) for a user. In any case, the disclosed systems and methods canmaintain a digital store of user-selected items selected by a user fromdifferent electronic messages (of one or more online providers).

FIG. 8 provides an exemplary example of a display (provided byelectronic messaging user interface module 302) showing a displaycorresponding to a digital store of user-selected items selected fromelectronic messages sent by different online providers (e.g., Walmart®and Safeway®). Items 810 and 812 were selected by the user from withinat least one email message sent by Walmart® and item 814 was selected bythe user from within an email message sent by Safeway®. As discussedabove, the item processing module 306 processes the order request andcoordinates the order of the items selected by the user from within theelectronic messaging system's user interface with each online providerof an item in the digital store.

While the example shown in FIG. 8 shows one delivery address and paymentoption, embodiments of the present disclosure allow the user to specifydifferent addresses and/or payment options (for different items and/ordifferent online providers).

In accordance with one or more embodiments, user registration module 308can maintain (e.g., in database 320) information for electronic messagerecipients and senders. As discussed above, user registration module 308can maintain information (e.g., in database 320) for each onlineprovider (as electronic message senders) registered with the electronicmessaging system, such as and without limitation a digital signature (orother encrypted information) for use in identifying an electronicmessage as being sent from a registered sender.

In addition, the user registration module can maintain (e.g., indatabase 320) information about electronic message recipients, includinglogins, passwords, shipping address, billing address and credit carddetails. The user registration module 308 allows a registered user toadd, delete, update, etc. its information.

In accordance with one or more embodiments, the user registration module308 provides an online wallet mechanism that can be used by the itemprocessing module 306 to coordinate a user's order request.

In accordance with one or more embodiments, the electronic messagingsystem submits an order to an online provider identifying each item inthe digital store of user-selected items associated with the onlineprovider. In accordance with at least one embodiment, an order can besubmitted to a merchant using the merchant's Application ProgrammingInterface (API). For example, the online provider's API can be used toact on the user's behalf and submit the order request to the onlineprovider. Examples of information provided to the online providerinclude without limitation the user's information (e.g., name, billingaddress, shipping address, credit card information, etc.) and iteminformation (item identification information, quantity, size, color,etc.). Other options for handling the user's order request includewithout limitation use of OBI (Open Buying on the Internet) and Epay.OBI provides a standardized approach for business-to-business purchasingon the web. OBI allows orders to be securely placed and payment made.Epay provides a mechanism for processing payment.

Information received from the online provider regarding the orderrequest, such as confirmation of the order, shipping, delivery, etc. isprovided to the user via the electronic messaging system's userinterface. Referring again to FIG. 4 , at step 416, the electronicmessaging user interface module 302 can provide confirmation of theuser's request in the electronic messaging system's user interface.

FIG. 9 provides an exemplary example of a user interface notification904 displayed in response to an order request received from the user(e.g., at step 414 of FIG. 4 ). In the example, user interface display802 is provided by electronic messaging user interface module 302 uponthe completion of the order processing by item processing module 306.The user interface display 902 includes display area 904 including anotification (using information provided by the online provider) to theuser indicating that the order was completed and including deliveryinformation.

The notification, in display area 904, further indicates that the userwill receive further updates and notifications of the user's order inthe user interface of the electronic messaging system. Such updatesmight include additional delivery information (e.g., trackinginformation), order updates (e.g., changes made by the online providerto the order), and the like.

Information displayed in user interface display area 904 (as well as anysubsequent information and notifications provided by electronic messageuser interface module 302) can be extracted (e.g., via electronicmessage retrieval module 304 and item processing module 306) from one ormore electronic messages sent by the online provider in response to thesubmission of an order by item processing module 306.

FIG. 10 provides an exemplary example of an internal architecture. Asshown in FIG. 10 , internal architecture 1000 of a computing device(s),computing system, computing platform, user devices, set-top box, smartTV and the like includes one or more processing units, processors, orprocessing cores, (also referred to herein as CPUs) 1012, whichinterface with at least one computer bus 1002. Also interfacing withcomputer bus 1002 are computer-readable medium, or media, 1006, networkinterface 1014, memory 1004, e.g., random access memory (RAM), run-timetransient memory, read only memory (ROM), media disk drive interface1020 as an interface for a drive that can read and/or write to mediaincluding removable media such as floppy, CD-ROM, DVD, media, displayinterface 1010 as interface for a monitor or other display device,keyboard interface 1016 as interface for a keyboard, pointing deviceinterface 1018 as an interface for a mouse or other pointing device, andmiscellaneous other interfaces not shown individually, such as paralleland serial port interfaces and a universal serial bus (USB) interface.

Memory 1004 interfaces with computer bus 1002 so as to provideinformation stored in memory 1004 to CPU 1012 during execution ofsoftware programs such as an operating system, application programs,device drivers, and software modules that comprise program code, and/orcomputer executable process steps, incorporating functionality describedherein, e.g., one or more of process flows described herein. CPU 1012first loads computer executable process steps from storage, e.g., memory1004, computer readable storage medium/media 1006, removable mediadrive, and/or other storage device. CPU 1012 can then execute the storedprocess steps in order to execute the loaded computer-executable processsteps. Stored data, e.g., data stored by a storage device, can beaccessed by CPU 1012 during the execution of computer-executable processsteps.

Persistent storage, e.g., medium/media 1006, can be used to store anoperating system and one or more application programs. Persistentstorage can also be used to store device drivers, such as one or more ofa digital camera driver, monitor driver, printer driver, scanner driver,or other device drivers, web pages, content files, playlists and otherfiles. Persistent storage can further include program modules and datafiles used to implement one or more embodiments of the presentdisclosure, e.g., listing selection module(s), targeting informationcollection module(s), and listing notification module(s), thefunctionality and use of which in the implementation of the presentdisclosure are discussed in detail herein.

Network link 1028 typically provides information communication usingtransmission media through one or more networks to other devices thatuse or process the information. For example, network link 1028 mayprovide a connection through local network 1024 to a host computer 1026or to equipment operated by a Network or Internet Service Provider (ISP)1030. ISP equipment in turn provides data communication services throughthe public, worldwide packet-switching communication network of networksnow commonly referred to as the Internet 1032.

A computer called a server host 1034 connected to the Internet 1032hosts a process that provides a service in response to informationreceived over the Internet 1032. For example, server host 1034 hosts aprocess that provides information representing video data forpresentation at display 1010. It is contemplated that the components ofsystem 1000 can be deployed in various configurations within othercomputer systems, e.g., host and server.

At least some embodiments of the present disclosure are related to theuse of computer system 1000 for implementing some or all of thetechniques described herein. According to one embodiment, thosetechniques are performed by computer system 1000 in response toprocessing unit 1012 executing one or more sequences of one or moreprocessor instructions contained in memory 1004. Such instructions, alsocalled computer instructions, software and program code, may be readinto memory 1004 from another computer-readable medium 1006 such asstorage device or network link. Execution of the sequences ofinstructions contained in memory 1004 causes processing unit 1012 toperform one or more of the method steps described herein. In alternativeembodiments, hardware, such as ASIC, may be used in place of or incombination with software. Thus, embodiments of the present disclosureare not limited to any specific combination of hardware and software,unless otherwise explicitly stated herein.

The signals transmitted over network link and other networks throughcommunications interface, carry information to and from computer system1000. Computer system 1000 can send and receive information, includingprogram code, through the networks, among others, through network linkand communications interface. In an example using the Internet, a serverhost transmits program code for a particular application, requested by amessage sent from computer, through Internet, ISP equipment, localnetwork and communications interface. The received code may be executedby processor 1002 as it is received, or may be stored in memory 1004 orin storage device or other non-volatile storage for later execution, orboth.

For the purposes of this disclosure a module is a software, hardware, orfirmware (or combinations thereof) system, process or functionality, orcomponent thereof, that performs or facilitates the processes, features,and/or functions described herein (with or without human interaction oraugmentation). A module can include sub-modules. Software components ofa module may be stored on a computer readable medium for execution by aprocessor. Modules may be integral to one or more servers, or be loadedand executed by one or more servers. One or more modules may be groupedinto an engine or an application.

For the purposes of this disclosure the term “user”, “subscriber”“consumer” or “customer” should be understood to refer to a user of anapplication or applications as described herein and/or a consumer ofdata supplied by a data provider. By way of example, and not limitation,the term “user” or “subscriber” can refer to a person who receives dataprovided by the data or service provider over the Internet in a browsersession, or can refer to an automated software application whichreceives the data and stores or processes the data.

Those skilled in the art will recognize that the methods and systems ofthe present disclosure may be implemented in many manners and as suchare not to be limited by the foregoing exemplary embodiments andexamples. In other words, functional elements being performed by singleor multiple components, in various combinations of hardware and softwareor firmware, and individual functions, may be distributed among softwareapplications at either the client level or server level or both. In thisregard, any number of the features of the different embodimentsdescribed herein may be combined into single or multiple embodiments,and alternate embodiments having fewer than, or more than, all of thefeatures described herein are possible.

Functionality may also be, in whole or in part, distributed amongmultiple components, in manners now known or to become known. Thus,myriad software/hardware/firmware combinations are possible in achievingthe functions, features, interfaces and preferences described herein.Moreover, the scope of the present disclosure covers conventionallyknown manners for carrying out the described features and functions andinterfaces, as well as those variations and modifications that may bemade to the hardware or software or firmware components described hereinas would be understood by those skilled in the art now and hereafter.

Furthermore, the embodiments of methods presented and described asflowcharts in this disclosure are provided by way of example in order toprovide a more complete understanding of the technology. The disclosedmethods are not limited to the operations and logical flow presentedherein. Alternative embodiments are contemplated in which the order ofthe various operations is altered and in which sub-operations describedas being part of a larger operation are performed independently.

While various embodiments have been described for purposes of thisdisclosure, such embodiments should not be deemed to limit the teachingof this disclosure to those embodiments. Various changes andmodifications may be made to the elements and operations described aboveto obtain a result that remains within the scope of the systems andprocesses described in this disclosure.

1-20. (canceled)
 21. A method comprising: receiving, at a computingdevice via an electronic messaging system, an electronic messageaddressed to a user and comprising a web link; modifying, via thecomputing device, the electronic message, the modified electronicmessage replacing the web link with information associated with the weblink in the electronic message; displaying, via the computing device,the modified electronic message in an electronic messaging interface;receiving, via the computing device and the electronic messaginginterface, selection input of the user corresponding to the informationassociated with the web link in the modified electronic message; anddisplaying, via the computing device, at least a portion of a web objectcorresponding to the web link via the electronic messaging interface inresponse to the user selection input.
 22. The method of claim 21,wherein the electronic message is modified to replace the web link withthe associated information in response to a request received from theuser to display the electronic message via the electronic messaginginterface.
 23. The method of claim 21, wherein a sender of theelectronic message is an online provider and the web object is a webpage of the online provider.
 24. The method of claim 21, furthercomprising: receiving, at the computing device, a second electronicmessage from a sender and addressed to a user; and analyzing, via thecomputing device, the second electronic message and identifying, basedon the analysis, information indicating that the sender is known toexclude web links from the sender's electronic messages.
 25. The methodof claim 24, wherein the identified information comprises a digitalsignature of the sender identifying the sender as a registered sender ofthe electronic messaging system.
 26. The method of claim 25, wherein theregistered sender's digital signature is located in a header portion ofthe second electronic message.
 27. The method of claim 24, furthercomprising: displaying, based on the analysis, the second electronicmessage in the electronic messaging interface without modifying.
 28. Themethod of claim 24, further comprising: analyzing, via the computingdevice, message content of the second electronic message anddetermining, based on the analysis of the message content, that thesecond electronic message comprises at least one web link; andreplacing, via the computing device and prior to displaying the secondelectronic message in the electronic messaging interface, the at leastone web link with information associated with the at least one web linkin the second electronic message.
 29. The method of claim 21, furthercomprising: analyzing, via the computing device, the electronic messageand locating the web link in the electronic message based on theanalysis.
 30. The method of claim 29, wherein the analyzing isresponsive to user input requesting display of the electronic message.31. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium tangibly encodedwith computer-executable instructions that when executed by a processorassociated with a computing device perform a method comprising:receiving, via an electronic messaging system, an electronic messageaddressed to a user and comprising a web link; modifying the electronicmessage, the modified electronic message replacing the web link withinformation associated with the web link in the electronic message;displaying the modified electronic message in an electronic messaginginterface; receiving, via the electronic messaging interface, selectioninput of the user corresponding to the information associated with theweb link in the modified electronic message; and displaying at least aportion of a web object corresponding to the web link via the electronicmessaging interface in response to the user selection input.
 32. Thenon-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 31, wherein theelectronic message is modified to replace the web link with theassociated information in response to a request received from the userto display the electronic message via the electronic messaginginterface.
 33. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium ofclaim 31, wherein a sender of the electronic message is an onlineprovider and the web object is a web page of the online provider. 34.The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 31, themethod further comprising: receiving a second electronic message from asender and addressed to a user; and analyzing the second electronicmessage and identifying, based on the analysis, information indicatingthat the sender is known to exclude web links from the sender'selectronic messages.
 35. The non-transitory computer-readable storagemedium of claim 34, wherein the identified information comprises adigital signature of the sender identifying the sender as a registeredsender of the electronic messaging system.
 36. The non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium of claim 35, wherein the registeredsender's digital signature is located in a header portion of the secondelectronic message.
 37. The non-transitory computer-readable storagemedium of claim 34, further comprising: displaying, based on theanalysis, the second electronic message in the electronic messaginginterface without modifying.
 38. The non-transitory computer-readablestorage medium of claim 34, further comprising: analyzing, via thecomputing device, message content of the second electronic message anddetermining, based on the analysis of the message content, that thesecond electronic message comprises at least one web link; andreplacing, prior to displaying the second electronic message in theelectronic messaging interface, the at least one web link withinformation associated with the at least one web link in the secondelectronic message.
 39. The non-transitory computer-readable storagemedium of claim 31, further comprising: analyzing the electronic messageand locating the web link in the electronic message based on theanalysis.
 40. A computing device comprising: a processor; anon-transitory storage medium for tangibly storing thereon program logicfor execution by the processor, the program logic comprising: logicexecutable by the processor for receiving, via an electronic messagingsystem, an electronic message addressed to a user and comprising a weblink; logic executable by the processor for modifying the electronicmessage, the modified electronic message replacing the web link withinformation associated with the web link in the electronic message;logic executable by the processor for displaying the modified electronicmessage in an electronic messaging interface; logic executable by theprocessor for receiving, via the electronic messaging interface,selection input of the user corresponding to the information associatedwith the web link in the modified electronic message; and logicexecutable by the processor for displaying at least a portion of a webobject corresponding to the web link via the electronic messaginginterface in response to the user selection input.